Centrifugal gun



W. W. CASE.

CENTRIFUGAL GUN.

APPLlCATlON FILED on. 17. 1911 Patented 006. 26,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

W W. CASE.

CENTRlFUGAL GUN. APPLICATION FILED 007.17.1911.

1,3 57,028. Patented Oct. 26,1920.

3 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

- fTiEEL 4- 2 #5 fl F 391:-

\ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY 1,357,028. Patented Oct. 26,1920.

. 3 SHEETS$HEET 3.

UNITED .STATES FATE NT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W, CASE, OF FRENCI-ITOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H.

V FULPER, OF FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.

V CENTRIFUGAL GUN.

To all whom it may camera; I I

Be it known that I, VVIL ntri CASE, a citizen or the United States, residing "at Frenchtown, in the county of Hunterdon and State of New J erseyfhave' invented certain new and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Guns, of which" the following is a specification.

-My invention is vention are to providesimple and eflfective mechanism for employing centrifugal force as the agent for hurling-projectiles.

Special obj ects are to hurl projectiles with great force and ma practically continuous stream. A further obje ct is to enable ready aiming of the device. v V,

In general, the invention comprises a projecting wheel rotating within a casing, said wheel having one or more projectile supply passages terminating at the rim of the Wheel in propelling shoulders and the casing having a guide' groove extending fromtheplane of said passages to a discharge passage 10+ cated in a different plane, the propelling shoulder usually extending across'therim of thewheel bet-ween said'two planes sons to propel the projectiles throughout said groove.

Other teatureswillbe Ihadecle'ar as the specification proceeds, attention being new directed to the. accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention embodiedin practical form and in which Figurel is a'plan view of the device, broken away to show more clearly the adjustablexjoint for the barrel; Fig. 2is an edge view of thesame;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken through thecasing and projecting'wheel,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammaticview,of the guide groove construction; Figs. 5 and Gare sectional views taken substantially on the planes of lines 55 and 66 of Fig. 3 Fig. 7 is a broken detail view of thepropelling shoulder on the projecting wheel. V p

The projecting memberis designated .10

and as indicated, is in the natureof a balance wheel, designedtojbe rotated at great velocity. It is 'shownkeyedoii anupright shaft 11, having a gear'1'2on1its lower end for engagement by the drive gear of an electric motor or the like, suitable means, such as the ball bearings 13 being provided to insure free and accuraterunning of the, parts.

In the upper side" of the projecting What may be termed a. centrifugal'gun and the objects of the in- Specification of Letters Patent. V P t t Oct 2 1920- Appnc'ation fi led 0ctober l7, 1 917, Seria1.ite,. 1 97,015.

member there is. provided a chamber 14 form ng a magazine for the projectiles, whiehmay be ordinary steel balls, and radlating' from this chamber are a plurality of passages 15 terminating at the rim of the wheel in the drive shoulders 16, said shoulders being located immediately at the ends of the radial passages, as shown. or somewhat to: the rear of such ends. a f

Surrounding the wheel is ,a casing 17 have inga projectile guiding groovein the inner face thereonsaid groove consisting of an upper receivingportion 18'disposed in'the plane ofthe projectile passages, a discharge portion19, disposed ina lower plane and terminating in a discharge passage 20 and an intermediate portion 21 extending on an incline froin the upper plane down ,to

the lower plane. Fig. 4 .is a planof this groove, the lower half in this view being a continuation of the right hand end of the .upper half, from which it will be seen that tersot aturn, so that the projectiles in traversing this groove make something over two turns of the casing Approximately at the'junction of theentranceportion 18 with the downwardly inclined portion 21 there is shown provided an enlargement 22 in the groove,-having a downwardly inclined wall 23 for startingfthe'ballsor bullets on their downward course, Itis obvious that more than one outlet and one entrance may be,

providedin the entrance and discharge po rtions respectively. 1 p The'bullets may be suitably fed into the magazine, as through a supply tube 24. A

an annular rim-26 is shown overlying the conical distributor 25 is shown, centrally months of such passages for confining the bullets tosaid passages. The entrances to .thepassages may beopened out orw dened "laterally as indicated at 27 ln'Fi'g. 5, to

facilitate entrance of the balls thereinto. The cups thus formed, are shown extended rearwardlyg the direction of rotation considered, forming pockets, holding the balls for an instant while picking up the speed of the rotating wheel. As the balls take up the speed of the wheel, they roll or slide out the radial passages, into the receiving portion of the guide groove and are then propelled by the drive shoulders 16 which are located at the rearward sides of such passages. These drive shoulders extend downwardly across the rim of the wheel to the plane of the lower discharge passage, as shown in Figs. 3 and '7 so as to propel the projectiles throughout their passage along the groove, the projectiles sliding or rolling downward across the face of the shoulder during such passage, as will be clear from Fig. 7. v

The projectiles leave the discharge passage at high velocity. By traversing the casing on its axis the fire may be directed laterally in any direction and by providing an adjustable barrel like that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the angle of fire, in elevation,

may be changed. This barrel, designated 28, is shown connected by a ball and socket joint 28 with the end of the discharge passage, it being trunnioned at 29 and "adapted to be shifted by a worm 30, operating on a sector-31, on the barrel. A handle 32 is shown provided for manually operatingthe worm.

The rapidity of fire may be controlled by varying the speed of the projecting wheel and the rate of supply of projectiles and the velocity also is controlled by this varying of the speed.

I claim: 1. A centrifugal gun comprising a rota,- table projecting member having a substantially central magazine, a projectile passage extending therefrom-to the rim of the memher and a propelling shoulder adjacent the end of said passage,and a casing surrounding the projecting member having a projectile receiving groove horizontally arranged within the casing with an entrance in the plane ofthe projectile passage a discharge groove horizontally arranged within the casing and an interconnecting groove for said horizontal grooves, said propelling shoulder on the projecting member extending from the planeof the entrance end of the projectile receiving groove to the plane of the discharge end thereof.

2. A centrifugal gun comprising a rotatable projecting member having a substan tially central magazine, a projectile passage extending therefrom to the rim of the member and a propelling shoulder adjacent the end of said passage, and a casing surrounding the projecting member having a projec tile receiving groove with an entrance in the plane of the projectile passage and terminating in a tangential discharge bore disposed in a different plane, said groove having an enlargement therein in. the plane of such entrance portionand inclined in the of the'discharge passage, a barrel havin direction of the discharge portion thereof, said propelling shoulder on the projecting member extending from the plane of the entrance end of the projectile receiving groove to the plane of the discharge end thereof.

3-."A centrifugal gun comprising a rotatable projecting member having a substantially central magazine and a projectile passage extending therefrom to the rim of the member, a'casing'surrounding the projecting member provided with a projectile guiding groove horizontally arranged'within the casing having a] receiving portion in the plane of said passage, a horizontally arranged discharge portion in another plane and an inclined portion connecting the two, a'discharge passage at the end of said discharge portion of the guiding groove and a propelling shoulder on the projecting member adjacentthe end of the projectile passage extendingfromthe entrance plane of said groove to the plane of the discharge passage.

4. A centrifugal gun comprising a rotatable projecting member having a substantially central magazine and a projectile passage extending therefrom to the rim of the member, a casing surrounding the projecting member provided with a projectile guid: ing groove having a receiving portion in the plane of said passage, a discharge portion in another plane and an inclined portion connecting the two, a discharge passage at the end of said discharge portion of the guiding groove, apropelling shoulder on the projecting member adjacent the end of the proj ectile passage extending from the entrance plane of said groove to the plane of the discharge passage, an adjustable barrel at the end of the discharge passage, and means for shifting said barrel. 5. A centrifugal gun comprising a rotatable projectingmember having a'substan-.

tially central magazine andaprojectile passage extending therefrom to the rim of the member, a casing surrounding the projecting member provided with a projectile guiding groove having a receiving portion in the plane of said passage, a discharge portion in another plane and an inclined portion connecting the-two; a discharge passage at the end ofsaid discharge portion of the guiding groove and a propelling shoulder on the projecting member adjacent the end of theprojectile passage extending from the entrance plane of said groove to the plane aball and socket joint with the end of the dischargepassage, and means for rocking said barrel at said joint.

6. A centrifugal gun comprising a rotatable projecting member'having a substantially central magazine and projectile passages extending radially therefrom to the rim of the member, the entrances to said passages being enlarged rearwardly to form projectile holding pockets, a confining 'flange overlying said entrance pockets, means adjacent the flange for distributing projectiles to said pockets, propelling shoulders adjacent the ends of the passages, and a casing surrounding the projecting member having guide groove in line with the passages a second parallel groove terminating in a disarge passage and a groove for connecting 10 said grooves.

, WILLIAM W. CASE. 

